DESPITE THE CHALLENGING ECONOMY, CITY TAX COLLECTION REMAINS ON TARGET

(8/11/2008) NEW HAVEN- The City of New Haven will close its Fiscal Year 2007-2008 books at the end of this month. At a news conference today, C.J. Cuticello, the City’s Tax Collector, announced that New Haven is approaching the historic record of 98.61 percent set on August 31st of last year. Cuticello shared that the City, as of Friday, August 8th, 2008, had already collected just over 98 percent of taxes owed on the 2006 Grand List. With two more weeks of collection remaining, the collection rate is expected to increase before the August 31 closeout.

Collection continues for the 2007 Grand List. Since tax bills were issued in June of this year, $99,636,751 has been collected. However, as of Friday, 735 personal property, 3,393 Real Estate and 18,731 Motor Vehicle accounts remain delinquent totaling $14 Million in taxes owed.

In 2007, New Haven celebrated its highest tax collection rate in more than 30 years setting the City in a class of its own compared to other Connecticut municipalities. At this time last year, the City had barely reached a 97 percent collection rate as a surge took place in the last couple weeks of August to allow it to achieve its final 98.61 rate for the 2005 Grand List. In August of 2006, the City closed out at a final rate of 98.53 percent.

“In this difficult economy, it’s a great achievement for us to be able to stay on track with our high collection rates,” said Cuticello. “We look forward to continuing this trend moving forward.”

Cuticello understands that while everyone must pay, many families are struggling with the challenges of the economy and may need special arrangements to fulfill their tax obligations. “We have payment plans available for home owners facing financial difficulty,” said Cuticello. “The Staff of the Tax Office can work with residents to make necessary accommodations. Our staff has been working hard as one strong team and we thank them for their diligence.”

The highly successful VioAlert program will hit the streets in full force when towing and booting recommence on Monday, August 18th. Vehicles with delinquent auto taxes or those with delinquent parking tickets in the aggregate amount of $200.00 or more will be booted and/or towed. If a taxpayer has two or more vehicles registered to their name, all of their tax or ticket delinquencies will be added together to reflect one aggregate number.

“We have to maintain strict standards for our tax collection program to ensure that everyone pays their part. It isn’t fair to responsible taxpayers when others don’t meet their obligations. When everyone in the City pays their share, everyone pays less,” said Cuticello. “Every year we’re more motivated by our success and we’ll continue to strive to meet that 100 mark!”